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“This tea was expensive. Super, super expensive. Which made me hope that it was a real milky oolong, and not one that has had additives thrown in it. I specifically enquired at the Covent Garden...”
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“I love milk oolongs, so I simply had to try another one out there! I don’t taste buttery or milky flavors that I do in other milk oolongs. There is a little bit of a peachy note in the...”
Read full tasting note

“It slipped my mind to review this the first however many times I tried this; so this last tasting’s from memory!
There’s a little bit of a story behind how I came across this. After I...”
Read full tasting note

From Whittard of Chelsea

A rare and prized hybrid tea with a distinctive creamy taste and soft butter-like aroma.

Milky Oolong is prized for its silken texture, creamy taste and incredible aroma. Like all Oolongs it is semi fermented and tastes between a green and a black tea. This particular variety is from the Fujian province in China and is loved for its elegant, complex taste. Brew this tea lightly to appreciate the multi-layered aromas that are compared to rose, vanilla and caramel, which gives a glorious smooth creamy taste.

7 Tasting Notes

This tea was expensive. Super, super expensive. Which made me hope that it was a real milky oolong, and not one that has had additives thrown in it. I specifically enquired at the Covent Garden branch of Whittard’s if this was the real deal, no flavourings etc, and was told it was. So, I’m going to treat it as such. I’m writing this down because I have been tricked in the past. But I do think that this is the genuine thing this time, not only because of Whittard’s reputation and the knowledgeability of the attendant at the shop, but also because of the way that this tea brewed and re-brewed.
This tea should be called “buttery oolong”. It brews a light orange-yellow, and is silky smooth on the tongue. The yellow green balls of large whole leaves unfurled fully at the third steeping, though they kept growing until the 5th or 6th one. I got 10 steepings of full 200ml cups, each one full of flavour out of a teaspoon of leaves. So an expensive tea, but economical if you re-brew it (and you should!). This tea smells and tastes like good, creamy butter. It smells like butter when dry, the tea “soup” smells like butter, the wet leaves smell like butter, and all ten steepings tasted like butter. The difference between them are with the added flavours that rise in later brewings. If you are a butter person, take the first few cups. Otherwise, take later ones. This tea will not take milk well (very light), is naturally sweet (no sugar needed), not at all astringent, and I have a feeling that it will be hard to ruin it by over brewing.
The only question is: do you like butter?

I love milk oolongs, so I simply had to try another one out there! I don’t taste buttery or milky flavors that I do in other milk oolongs. There is a little bit of a peachy note in the background, but otherwise it tastes like an astringent green oolong, to me. Not a favorite, but I’m happy that I was able to try it! Thank you maisonlula for a sample!

It slipped my mind to review this the first however many times I tried this; so this last tasting’s from memory!

There’s a little bit of a story behind how I came across this. After I realised I could use my staff discount at /any/ Whittard store I came back to London, to the Covent Garden branch specifically, for some loose-leaf tea shopping (loose-leaf tea caddies aren’t available at our branch). A certain gentleman working the desk on the first floor named Adam served me as I was looking for the strawberries and cream pu-erh they have on the website— and don’t sell in the shops, unfortunately— but instead recommended me this oolong. Later he revealed he drinks it as his breakfast tea with a croissant.

Thing is, it’s called milky but it’s much more /buttery/, so it would complement a buttery croissant very well in my view— not that I’ve tried that combination yet! Brewed lightly, it runs thick and smooth and wholesome through the mouth, brewed more strongly, it’s more akin to green tea with notes of that creaminess in the fresh taste. The scent is incredible, too, plus the leaves are rolled up in such a way that they unfold spectacularly large when brewed and are good for a couple more top-ups.

Last time I had this it turned out more green-y— I have yet to perfect my brewing times for this one!